North Korea did not respond to Biden's offer to send over COVID-19 vaccines as the hermit country deals with a surge of cases

• North Korea is experiencing its first outbreak of COVID-19.
• Biden said he offered the country COVID-19 vaccines but recieved no response.

President Joe Biden said the US offered North Korea COVID-19 vaccines as the hermit country battles its first acknowledged COVID-19 outbreak, Reuters reported.

"We've offered vaccines, not only to North Korea but to China as well, and we're prepared to do that immediately," Biden said in a joint appearance with South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, The BBC reported.

"We've got no response," he added.

Biden is currently on a trip to East Asia and met with the newly-elected South Korean leader to discuss trade, among other topics.

Both leaders discussed new efforts that may be needed to deter North Korea's Kim Jong Un including holding bigger military drills and deploying more US weapons, but said they'll assist the people of North Korea with COVID-19, Reuters reported.

According to the BBC, North Korean state media reported that close to 2.5 million people were "sickened by fever." The country is currently under lockdown.

North Korea has previously declined offers to join COVAX, a vaccine-sharing network. The country also declined offers for vaccines from South Korea, per The BBC. The country did not report any COVID-19 cases in the first two years of the pandemic.

State broadcasters have advised residents to gargle saltwater, among other home remedies, for COVID-19 as the country lacks the remedies and vaccines to prevent and treat the virus.

Nearly 2.5 million people have been sickened by "fever" in North Korea and it is under a nationwide lockdown, according to the country's state media.